Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. After deciding to stop RVing, we bought a ranch house halfway up a hill on five acres. After Bruce and I talked about names for our five acres, we settled on Blackberry Homestead as a homage to the wild blackberries on the hill. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist, and I’ll share my current projects. Gardening and reading are my favorite hobbies.

Windstorm at RV Park

July 5, 2024 One thing about Golden, Colorado, it can be very windy. The wind can come howling out of the mountains and hit the front range like a hammer. On June 27 (Thursday), we had wind gust of 35 to 45 miles an hour, with some occasional gust up to 65 miles an hour. […]

RV Visitor from South Africa

July 4, 2024 One evening, Bruce and I were walking around Dakota Ridge RV Park in Golden, Colorado with Nox. As we walked back to our RV, we spotted this visitor from South Africa. We didn’t notice the tag at first. We were impressed with how rugged this RV seemed to be. I originally thought […]

Sights in Tin Cup Hogback Park

July 4, 2024 The last week or so, we’ve been walking around the Tin Cup Hogback Park. We’ve also been hiking on part of the Stegosaurus Ridge Trail which runs along the Tin Cup Ridge. The Tin Cup Hogback Park is just to the south of the Dakota Ridge RV park. You simply walk to […]

Visiting a Winery with Friends

July 2, 2024 My dear friend, Jeanne from A Jeanne in the Kitchen, invited Bruce and me to go to Blue Mountain Vineyard with her, Larry and some other friends on Saturday (June 29). We drove to Jeanne’s and then Jeanne’s husband, Larry, drove us to the winery. Jeanne had made a beautiful charcuterie platter […]

Brunch at the Famous Silver Grill Cafe in Fort Collins, Colorado

July 2, 2024 On June 22 (Saturday), Bruce drove the rental car up to Fort Collins from Golden, Colorado, so we could have brunch with an ex-colleague of mine. We had worked together for over twenty years and I was excited to see him and catch up with him. I am just going to call […]

Starting to Replace the Broken Brakes on the RV

July 1, 2024 Last week, Bruce called a RV mobile tech and arranged for an appointment for today to see about repairing the brakes. The mobile tech stopped by this morning around 8:45 AM. He took a look at the brakes and said the calipers would need to be replaced. He said he’d come back […]

Update on the Truck Repairs from the Hailstorm

June 27, 2024 Yesterday, the body shop called to let us know the truck was on schedule for the repairs. The new parts had been installed and they were getting ready to paint. We should have the truck back next week!

New Artwork for a Friend

June 27, 2024 I enjoy drawing pictures when I know who will receive it. A friend asked me for a picture of a hawk. I looked at some photographs of various hawks and decided I wanted a hawk that he might see in Colorado. I wanted a more dramatic picture than the hawk sitting on […]

Flower of the Day with Bee Bum

June 24, 2024 In taking Nox out for a walk, Bruce and I noticed this bee on a thistle flower. This bee does not look like the European honeybee to me. The abdomen doesn’t look right; it is too wide and not yellow enough. The yellow strips are so light they are almost white. I […]

Walking West on the Clear Creek Trail from Golden, CO

June 20, 2024 Earlier this week, a friend asked if we’d like to have breakfast and go walking beside Clear Creek on Thursday. That sounded like fun to me, so we agreed to meet at the Bridgewater Grill in downtown Golden at 8:30 AM. This morning, Bruce drove to Golden and parked at the welcome […]